Announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Monday, Bermuda will lean on the crypto firms for digital asset infrastructure support for its government, local banks, insurers, and consumers. The goal, according to a press statement, is to create the “world’s first fully on-chain national economy.”
“Bermuda has always believed that responsible innovation is best achieved through partnership between government, regulators, and industry,” said Bermuda’s Premier E. David Burt, in a statement.
“With the support of Circle and Coinbase, two of the world’s most trusted digital finance companies, we are accelerating our vision to enable digital finance at the national level,” he added. “This initiative is about creating opportunity, lowering costs, and ensuring Bermudians benefit from the future of finance.”
Soon, those economic figures could be running on crypto rails, with its fully on-chain economy characterized as “using digital assets as everyday financial infrastructure,” according to the announcement.
Excited to support Bermuda’s transition toward an onchain economy that empowers the people, local businesses, and institutions
The first step includes government agencies engaging in stablecoin payment pilots and financial institutions engaging with tokenization tools. Additionally, there are plans for nationwide digital literacy programs as the crypto firms aim to provide digital asset education and technical onboarding.
“Coinbase has long believed that open financial systems can drive economic freedom,” said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in a statement. “Bermuda’s leadership shows what’s possible when clear rules are paired with strong public-private collaboration. We are excited to support Bermuda’s transition toward an on-chain economy that empowers local businesses, consumers, and institutions.”
Ultimately, the move to an on-chain economy is expected to provide lower financial transaction costs and better access to global finance, with long-term benefits for residents and businesses.
Representatives for Circle and Coinbase did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
